Meanderings, u-turns and delights of a Village SOS wife stranded in mid-Wales...

Wednesday, 16 March 2011

It's the People that count...

It's strange how quickly ones life moves sometimes, and how easy it is to get absorbed into 'today'. Sucked in perhaps. At least, our 'today' has involved rather a lot of sorting, unpacking, arranging, cleaning etc etc so perhaps it's not surprising. While writing this though I feel sad when I think of the faces and smiles and tears of people I have only just met but have already said goodbye to. Not wanting to get sentimental or sound like one of those cheesy emails that goes round and round, I want to put on record this discovery:-

WHEREVER YOU GO IN THE WORLD AND WHATEVER YOU DO IT'S THE PEOPLE THAT COUNT. Ta-da.

Hills and rivers might be beautiful - and I have spent some time with the Wye, Usk, Ithon, Tywi and Irfon this year. Towns or castles might be quaint/majestic in all their Victorian/medieval splendour - but it all pales into nothing when you think of the human beings inhabiting them. Of infinite worth.

"We shall know even as we are fully known". How many people feel they are 'known' - let alone loved by the one who knows.

Ok I realise this is one strange blog-post. What I mean to say is - it's been good - there is sadness and a sense of loss that we will no longer live in mid-Wales. Mostly we will miss the people we have started to know, and the beautiful countryside of course, but I will also miss the promise of a new beginning, the chance to be myself without the presupposition of what others expect me to be. That particular freedom is not granted very often in life - grasp it when you can.

5 comments:

Hello there Rosie!.... This is my first visit... I discovered it through Mate Rob's!

I have really enjoyed reading of your tipsy... Gypsy journey! Sounds a bit familiar... in places. Life is life - everywhere!

I really enjoyed looking at your combined work with Ian! The new place sure has a lot of potential... and the shed... an adventure! Life is about following your heart... listening to the Universe and Faith!

I will add "You" and your lovely site to my Favourites... and will "drop by" to see the progress!

Cut your Self loose from the Past... live fully in the Present... for Now... and the Future will ALWAYS be waiting!

Aha! I bet you found me through Bruce...that vagabond who gets around a lot these days! And now that I have found you, you are LEAVING beautiful Wales...I shall have to take the time to read all past posts...don't know when that'll happen but I'll try. I enjoyed your painting...I think you show real promise! I am an artist and have traveled a bit too and ended up in the north part of Vancouver Island in a semi remote village area called Sayward at Desolation Sound area of the Georgia Straits (a mouthful, I know). I'll be watching to see what happens next! Lovely to meet you.

hello Karen - good to meet you too. I really love your portraits - so stunning. And thanks for encouraging me to keep going! Sayward sounds very remote and cold! And perhaps very beautiful? best wishes

Hi Rosie,Yes, Sayward is a bit remote and kind of cold in winter, but not as bad as back East where I was raised. Lots of rain at times here - this is a rainforest. We have Elk, Cougar, Black Bears, (a Grizzly or two swim over from the mainland in summer), Bald Eagles, Orcas, Grey Whales, Salmon, and assorted smaller wildlife. Wonderful! Our two acres in on a mountainside - we get our water from there, gravity fed. It is absolutely beautiful here - we are only 5 km from the village and the ocean. An hour south is actual civilization - Campbell River, a town of perhaps 20,000.

What is Village SOS?

Village SOS is a batch of funding by the Lottery for regenerating rural communites, and will also be filmed by the BBC for a series next year. Our project, Ashfield Community Enterprise, will be restoring an 8 acre horticultural site in the village of Howey to grow food. Ian is a 'business champion' helping the project to become viable in the long term - as well as providing a community focus for volunteers.

This blog is mostly about our 'gap-year' experience of living in mid-Wales, with a little bit about the Ashfield project thrown in, plus a sprinkling of house renovations ongoing in Somerset. Basically whatever comes to mind!